Slices of Life
by Tam0Tam0
Summary: Slices of Terra, Aqua, Ventus, and Vanitas' days as students. They may laugh, they may cry, and they may drift apart, but in the end, they know who matters in their hearts. Just "in the moment" drabbles of a normal teenage life made for fun.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hi there! Sooo, I made an account here mainly for the purpose of keeping track of my favorite stories LOL. I do drabble from time to time, but it's not something I'm aspiring to do. My irl twin mainly reads my stuff, but I thought I'd post this for fun. :-D The purpose of writing this was because I was shocked at how there wasn't any real high school fics of Terra D-:. Maybe I'm just not good at finding them, but I decided to make my own. Err..well, this is mostly in Aqua POV, though, since I thought my irl twin was going to type Terra's, but that's fine! XD I like writing everyone's POV, really (just Terra's a little more so I'm looking forward to that hurr).**  
**If I do feel confident in posting more, it'll be like drabbles (unless I do manage to string together a plot LOL).**

**Image does not belong to me by the way! :-D  
**

* * *

**Chapter 1**

"Good morning, Terra. It's time to wake up."

A moan sounded in response from under the covers. The greeting voice waited to see any movement from the single-sized mattress, but nothing came. She debated on whether to rip the brown sheets from the lazy figure, or pull back the matching curtain to force the morning light into the room. However, she knew that her strength was no match for the one named Terra, so pulling the sheets was out of the equation. The sky also seemed to be in a depressing mood as rain clouds were spotted from the girl's bedroom window, so that was out as well. She sighed.

"Come on, Terra. Today's the first day of school."

To the girl's surprise, a hand poked out from under the blanket and waved lazily toward her direction. The sheets moved slowly, until a head could be spotted, half buried into his pillow. The cobalt eyes against the dark room seemed to be smiling at her.

"I know, I know. I'm getting up."

"Good." The girl replied, backing away from the door way to wake up the younger member of the household, Ventus.

"Hey, Aqua."

The female stopped just in time to whip her head back toward the male, curiosity filling her brilliant blue eyes. "What is it?"

"Excited for your first day of high school?"

She felt her heart beat quicken at his question. She felt more nervous than excited to be attending an unfamiliar campus. However, she wasn't one to dread on negative thoughts, and did find the future experiences to be ones to look forward to. When she thought about being able to see Terra-who is a second year now-more often now that they will go to the same school, the girl couldn't feel any luckier. She smiled.

"Yes."

* * *

"It's not fair." The blond frowned, grabbing hold of a rail once the train picked up speed. He wore a long-sleeved, black coat with gold buttons. Under it was a long-sleeved, white shirt with the collar pulled up to stick out just a bit from the blazer. Matching, black pants wrapped snuggly around his legs and lay on top of new, black dress shoes. Compared to his uniform attire, the boy's spiky blond hair and radiant blue eyes seemed to stand out. "You guys are going to the same school now, and I'm stuck at Destiny Intermediate."

"Don't say that." Aqua smiled. She lightly hugged the smaller male from behind, crossing her arms over his chest. She wore a long-sleeved white collared shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbow. Her plaid patterned skirt-which matched her tie-was in the shade of a light blue. "We'll only be apart for a few hours. You can tell us all your stories about school when we pick you up, right Terra?"

"Of course." Terra smiled a bit, ruffling Ventus' spiked hair. He wore a similar outfit to Aqua, but had pants instead of a skirt and a short-sleeved shirt instead of long-sleeved. His tie was worn loosely around his neck.

"Fine." The blond and blue-eyed boy grinned. He looked up at Aqua. "Are you nervous about high school?"

"Not really." Aqua shook her head, surprised that she really meant it. When she really thought about it, high school was no different from intermediate. Sure, the campus was bigger, but once she got the hang of the environment, Aqua knew she'd fit in quite nicely. She also had Terra and a few other friends who were going to be with her, so there wasn't any real reason to be nervous.

"Oh!"

Terra and Ventus jumped at the female's sudden voice. They looked at her, confusion written all over. "What's wrong?" They questioned, in sync.

"I forgot to give you guys something." The blue-haired companion muttered, digging through her grey school bag. She searched around the depths of the bag with her hand until she could feel the thin cords. Her face lit up as she yanked the objects out and in front of her friends' faces. "Here you go!"

Blinking, Ventus took hold of one of three key-chains. The metallic frame was unique in that it shaped into a flower and enclosed around tinted glass. The glass came in different colors for each key-chain, and Ventus was holding a green one.

"Wow. Did you make these, Aqua?" Terra asked, taking the orange flower once Aqua handed it to him.

"I did." Aqua confirmed, smiling at her friend's reactions. "There's a legend about a fruit called the papou fruit. When shared, the fruit gives off a power to let the people who share it with each other stay together for their whole lives. It was my inspiration to make these for us."

"This is awesome!" Ventus exclaimed, hugging Aqua in a tight embrace. "I hope that legend is true so we can be together forever."

At that statement, Terra and Aqua couldn't help but smile at their youngest companion.

"What are you guys doing?"

The three figures turned in sync toward the voice nearby. When they saw who it was, the train slowed its pace and eventually came to a stop.

"Hi, Vanitas." Ventus smiled, waving toward the black haired, golden-eyed boy wearing the same uniform as him. "Where were you?"

"I was standing here while you guys were gushing." Vanitas informed, rolling his eyes.

"Well, this is the stop to the intermediate school." Aqua reminded them as the doors swung open from both sides. "Have fun okay, Ven. Vanitas."

"We will." The two small figures responded in unison. While Ventus was attempting to attach his chain to his school bag on his way out of the cart, Vanitas paused to examine Aqua, who was staring at him in confusion.

"Way to rock the uniform, Aqua." Vanitas smirked. Before either Aqua or Terra could react, the raven haired male dashed out of the cart and accompanied Ventus outside.

"I can't believe Ventus hangs out with that guy." Terra groaned, shaking his head.

"Well, Ventus is having fun and that's all that matters." Aqua laughed, not bothered by Vanitas' flirtatious behavior. She remembered being introduced to Vanitas in intermediate school-Aqua in her second year and Ventus in his first. That day, Ventus went to Aqua and his hang out spot under a tree with Vanitas in his grip. He explained to the curious girl how Vanitas was always alone. Since then, Aqua always saw Vanitas around Ventus. She didn't mind the two getting along, but she wished Vanitas would be more responsible. He hardly did work and had a lot of negativity for such a small boy. The woman just hoped Ventus wouldn't be influenced and, so far, he hasn't.

"Thanks for the charms, by the way." Terra nodded as he finished attaching the cord to the strap of his school bag, interrupting the girl's thoughts. "I know I don't say it often, but I'm happy to have you two as my friends." A pause. "I hope the legend is true, too."

Aqua smiled wholeheartedly, looking forward to her first day at school.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: All I can say is thank you for taking the time to read it. And thank you to the few followers who wanted to read a little more of this lame drabble. I couldn't be more embarrassed and thrilled! My irl friends complimented my writing and I just feel undeserving. I think it's gone to my head now hahaaa. I hope not!  
Well, I kept rewriting this chapter-especially the beginning. It's like the wrong thing can lead into a k-drama. o A o;! I hope my drabbles never get too far out of hand. I'd actually like to keep writing more and more haha (don't all writers...?)  
Anyway, so I got to write a bit of Terra's POV ! Yaaay! I liked writing out everyone's though.**

**This drabble's theme is "First Day of school"- Do you remember how your first day of elementary/intermediate/high school/college went? (:**

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Chapter 2

The morning sky wasn't as bright as Ventus had hoped it would be for his first day of school. He could see rain clouds just a few miles from his current destination, and was grateful that Aqua convinced him to take his green umbrella with him. He just hoped the sky would clear up faster as he slouched in his seat.

"You look like you just saw a dog get kicked in the face or something."

Ventus shifted his attention from the window to the figure seated in front of him. He wondered what kind of reaction he had made because the black haired boy grunted in an uninterested manner and turned his gaze toward Ventus' bag. "What is that?"

"It's a keychain Aqua gave to me." Ventus replied, when he followed his friend's gaze. He felt his lips curl into a smile. Just thinking about the charm made him remember the legend that kept friendships together. "So, are you ready for the first day of school, Vanitas?"

"I'm ready for the first day of my last year at this dump of a school." Vanitas grumbled, resting his chin on folded arms which took up half of Ventus' desk. He looked up at the blond boy, watching him nod thoughtfully. He sighed and sat up, resting his back against the window behind him. He couldn't sit still for some reason. Golden orbs danced around the room, scanning every student that filled the room with disgusting laughter. He just wanted to flip some desks and scream at them to go away. He liked his peace to be quiet.

Running out of things to look at, Vanitas hunched forward, resting his chin in his hands while his elbows were prompt on his thighs. He puffed his cheeks and before he could lose his cool and storm out of the room, he found himself gazing at it again. The green charm attached to Ventus' bag.

"I won't get mad if you stop hanging out with me."

As soon as the words escaped his lungs, Vanitas found himself tearing his eyes away from the intricate accessory and focusing his attention on the black board. There wasn't anything written on it, nor was there even an impression of chalk ever scraping against the thing. He guessed the black board was brand new and he cursed himself for picking such a stupid thing to focus on. It was like trying to look for air. Why couldn't he just look at someone? Pretend he was interested in their hand gestures or their retarded conversations. No, he had to pick the brand new black board. He couldn't do anything now though, because he felt those pair of blue marbles on his neck.

"Why would I stop hanging out with you, Van?"

"I don't know. Maybe it's because you're bored of this. You don't like what I say. You want to be with other people. Pick your choice. I'm just offering."

"But you're my friend."

"Yeah, well, people can take advantage of that."

Silence filled the atmosphere. Well, on their side anyway. The heap of students chatted like nothing else mattered. They were lost in their own world, while Ventus and Vanitas were stuck in theirs. Vanitas had to wonder where this conversation was going. He wanted to see what kind of face the person next to him was making. Was he pondering on a comeback to counter his last statement? Was he at a loss of words and waiting for the subject to change? Was he thinking of how to change the subject? Or was he staring at the raven-haired boy, waiting for those golden orbs to catch his gaze and feel guilty for the conversation he started. He hoped it wasn't the last option. He didn't dare want to look back only to take back what he said. Cowards took back their words, and Vanitas wasn't a coward. They both knew that. He'd rather be scratching the new black board with his fingernails or chasing their classmates away with a chair than take back what he started.

"You're a lot more honest than most people ever want to be."

Vanitas whipped his head around, confusion written all over his face. They were arguing about their friendship and suddenly Ventus was complimenting him? Or rather, was that even a compliment to the blond boy? The grouchy teen was just seconds away from purring a nasty growl of frustration when he decided to push his patience a little further. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You're going to find friends who value your friendship as much as you do." Ventus smiled. He didn't just smile, but he gave this knowing sort of smile that made Vanitas' skin crawl. The skin crawling wasn't a bad thing, but the boy wasn't used to this. It was like this person could read him like a book. I guess when two people hung out practically every day, something like "getting to know each other" would fall in there somewhere at some point. However, that wasn't what was bothering him. What bothered him was that Ventus said it like finding those friends was bound to happen. Destiny was going to bring them to Vanitas whether he wanted it to happen or not. Vanitas wasn't all that keen to losing control over his life or his decisions.

But when he wanted to let his thoughts be heard to the blond, all he could do was sigh.

"Since when did the word 'friend' become plural? I'll go nuts if I have to get to know another freaking human being. It should be an accomplishment in itself that I even managed two years with you."

The blond student watched as his companion shifted his body, arched his upper body forward, and laid his head on top of the wooden surface of his desk. The conversation was over. Ventus wasn't disappointed though, as a teacher made her way to the front of the classroom and silenced everyone. In the middle of their homeroom instructor's self-introduction, Ventus couldn't help but feel a small smile tug at the corners of his mouth.  
He was okay with this.

* * *

"So, what do we do first?"

Terra glanced down at his female friend. She was smiling up at him, ready to be lead into the new environment she would be frequenting every five days a week. He had to wonder how this girl could be so positive about going to school. Rather, how could she be positive in pretty much every situation? He envied this part of her. He always had to see the advantages and disadvantages to a situation. For now, though, all he had to worry about was getting Aqua to her designated classroom.

"We go into the main building here." The brunette pointed at a large white building placed right in front of the gate, where they were standing. "Then, there's going to be a bulletin board with a list of names. Right next to each name is a number, which is the classroom number."

"Oh." Aqua chirped, grabbing Terra's curiosity. "In Destiny Middle, I remember a few teachers waiting in the hall with our classroom numbers. We just had to find the teacher assigned to the first letter of our name." The blue-haired female explained, in a thoughtful manner. She smiled, though. "Well, high school is all about being independent, huh?"

"Yup. You're your own man, now. Er, woman." Terra chuckled, resisting the urge to pat her on her head in a sort of brotherly way. Between the three of them, Terra wasn't much of a chatterbox like Aqua and Ventus could be. For him, actions spoke louder than words, and he made sure to prove it so as to be a good influence to his younger companions-especially for Ventus. He was confident that Aqua would fit in here nicely at the school where drama is only a millisecond away. The brunette just had to suppress his protective instinct and let his friend experience what high school had to offer her.

"Hey, Aqua."

"Yeah?" Aqua replied, giving him her full attention.

"Don't ever feel like you can't go running around and looking for me, okay?" A pause. "You can talk to me about anything."

There was a soft rush of wind gently picking up the left over pink petals that had fallen from their trees and onto the green lawn. Terra kept his gaze on the white structure, not wanting to regret what he had just said. He resisted the burning touch of a blush that was tugging at his ears. His female companion hadn't responded yet and he was hoping she would at any moment. The doors into the school seemed so far away now, even as students walked around them. He didn't care about the bystanders, though. To him, the only people who existed at this moment were Aqua and him.

"Don't ever feel like you can't do the same." A soft, but soothing voice replied.

Terra used this time to meet her brilliant blue eyes with his cobalt. She smiled, once again, like everything was going to work out perfectly fine. He knew that it wasn't necessarily true, but he could believe it to some degree. As he felt a small smile form on his lips, a hand glided into his own. When he looked down, the brunette watched Aqua's peach hand lightly squeeze his fingers. He felt his chest let out a chuckle as he returned the gesture with a swift squeeze of his own. He quickly released her hand after this small action, though, which she knew was more than enough from him.

"That's a promise, then." He answered, patting her head. He made the first step toward the school building, listening to her footsteps follow his own.

* * *

**A/N: No real pairings were intended. I think of everyone so far as a family-sort even if they aren't really. But who knows? Life tends to throw the weirdest curve balls. /Does that make sense/ Look at me, I talk like I'm an old man-been there done that PFFT.**

**My first day of elementary went horrible. I was stuck on my mom and the VP had to hold me so she could get away from me (What a lovely mom, right?). I don't remember Intermediate too well, only realized how alone I was I think. I had my twin though, so it wasn't so bad. I was pretty nervous about high school, though. My family kept making a deal about going all out. I didn't though, which is cool. I was pretty nervous about college, too. But I had quite a few friends there with me, so I played it cool and had a wonderful first day (:.**

**Until the next chapter, thank you very much! (Sorry, also! I'm noticing mistakes or just simple OCD problems and keep editing _ )  
**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait! I've been busy with school and drawing and...well, fighting the infamous writer's block (you guys have it tough haha). This time, I wrote a chapter in only one character's POV-that's okay, right? It was completely unintentional to be honest. See, I suddenly had the urge to write when I was at the mall. I literally sat on a bench and took my twin's folder paper and just wrote this draft. Of course, there was Vanitas AND Terra's POVs in the beginning...but I felt like changing it up haha. This is all still "in the moment" drabbles so I'm sorry if the flow of the writing suddenly got weird and out-of-flow.**

**I wrote this one based on the idea of "third (in this case, fourth) wheel". I tend to always feel like a wheel when I know people only invited me to get my twin to go out. It's not bad cuz I get to watch my twin, but...yeah, no one should have to feel like a wheel. **

* * *

**Chapter 3**

Vanitas thought he hated school, but the current predicament he found himself in probably came close to second.

"Van! Hurry up or we won't get any seats!"

"Calm down, Ven. If the shop is crowded; we can always eat our ice cream at the park's hill top."

"The weather's been great, lately, too."

'Here we go again,' Vanitas couldn't help but think as he rolled his eyes. He quietly followed behind the three musketeers—Terra, Aqua, and Ven—as they continuously chattered like they hadn't seen each other every day. Apparently, they made it a habit to visit The Ice Cream Shop, which literally was its name, every Tuesdays and Thursdays when Terra didn't have football practice. The two high school students would board the train from Twilight High and get off at the stop to Destiny middle, where Ventus and Vanitas-who was dragged along-would meet them and walk toward the shopping district together. This was the third week since everyone's first day back at school and Vanitas hated this routine already.

"What's wrong, Vanitas?" Aqua asked, bringing the boy's attention back to reality. "Are you alright?"

"Peachy." The raven-haired retorted, biting back a whole list of harsh things he could and wanted to say on the spot. Earlier on in the day, Vanitas had to deal with many lectures from the faculty over his intentional sabotage on school property and constant misbehavior toward his instructors, which went on for the last two weeks. Apparently, they weren't impressed with his artistic engravings of curse words on wooden desks, or his honesty when commenting on a teacher's rather large figure. Instead, they had expressed their appreciation to him by making him write a ten page reflection paper of apology and to write it so convincingly; teachers would cry mountains of tears and chant holy words as they rejoiced. Vanitas wasn't really angry over his punishment, but he was frustrated with the way his instructors acted in a superior way. The way he had to accept the punishment like a dog, just so the teachers would leave him alone, nerved him to no end. He wanted to vent it all out, but he couldn't find the time to do so with Ventus-who was oblivious to his pranks and consequences-glued at his side. He didn't want to let his only real friend (he admits) worry about him, even though it was getting harder with each day. Seeing Ventus have the time of his life with his older companions didn't make Vanitas feel any better than the mood he was suppressing, either. However, he knew that if he ruined the atmosphere now, Ventus wouldn't let him live it down and, frankly, Vanitas didn't want to feel even more of a fourth wheel than he already was here.

"You don't have to come if you don't want to." Terra piped in, his tone more forced than it probably needed. The usual troublemaker knew all too well that the football junkie wasn't fond of his presence. He also knew that the brunette only held back all the things he wanted to say because of Aqua and Ventus, who would try to defend the rebel out of the kindness of their hearts. Vanitas didn't really care whether Terra liked him or not, but he found the quiet man's dislike for him quite amusing when given the opportunities.

However, with Vanitas there, Terra was probably just as moody about the trip to the shop as Vanitas felt. So, the smaller boy decided to back off for now and focus on his own problems, which were more important, honestly.

"Do you really not want to come?" Ven asked, the pitch in his voice rising with the evident sadness he was expressing. Aqua felt the pang of emotion and she, too, looked at Vanitas with slight disappointment. Damn.

"You guys got it all wrong." Vanitas growled, finally. He revealed a bit of annoyance in his tongue, but he didn't try to hide it, really. The four times they had gone to the ice cream parlor, Vanitas sat at the booth like a log, listening to the three friends talk about their days at school. He realized it on the first day in that shop that it was their sanctuary to bond and gush all they wanted. It was their time to get away from everyone and everything outside their knit and Vanitas knew that even they needed a break from him once in a while. He let out a sigh. "I just remembered something I had to do is all. It can't wait, though, so I have to go now."

"Is it for your grandfather?" Aqua tilted her head, taking in the white lie completely. Ventus' expression didn't change too much, but there was a bit of understanding in his eyes as he absorbed the lie, as well. Terra had his back toward the grumpy boy, but his long silence meant he heard.

"Yeah." Vanitas replied, cooly. He jogged ahead of the group and stopped at the corner of the sidewalk just a few feet ahead. He turned around to watch the incoming group, already feeling relieved of some of his frustration.

Ventus still had a glum expression, but reluctantly waved his hand toward his friend. He flashed a kind smile as he said, "See you tomorrow, Van."

"Be careful on your way home, Vanitas." Aqua warned. She held her hand up as a signal of goodbye as she also flashed a smile.

"It's Van." The golden eyes glared, watching the cheerful female nod her head in apology. Satisfied with the quick exchange, Vanitas shifted his whole body to his right and headed down the white cemented path. Despite the uncomfortable feelings he had toward the group as a whole, he had to admit that they had numb some of the irritation in his mind. Though, when he quickly thought about it, the rebellious prankster was probably just relieved to have people to interact with unlike some sick, depressing loners he'd seen at school.

"Don't cause any trouble for your grandfather, alright?"

Half expecting to see some bystanders talking to each other, Vanitas turned back enough to glance over his shoulder. He had already started to forget about the annoying feelings, as well as his apology paper, when the sudden voice caught his attention. However, what he saw was not in any way what he was expecting, at all.

Terra was standing at the corner Vanitas had just stood from when he departed from the group. The brunette stood tall with his fingers curled into a hook so his school bag strap could be held over his shoulder. The bag was on its side as it rested on his back, the corners poking out from his well-built frame. The high school football player stared at Vanitas with a determined look, much too serious for a normal teen to hold. The smaller boy couldn't help but wonder how Terra would fair in a fist fight.

"You hear me, Vanitas?" Terra asked, bringing the boy back from his thoughts.

For a second, Vanitas had to ponder on his second question. Did Terra know that his excuse of an errand was a lie? If so, then the high school student was probably questioning the junior to make him feel pressured for the lie he made the other two believe. The pressure would be like a warning from Terra for Vanitas to not lie to the others, again.

However, the question could also mean what it sounded like. From Vanitas' understanding of the situation, Terra grew up with a single father. With the way Terra was always proud and protective over his friends, the mischief boy had to assume that he really respected his father, who was a dojo master, somewhere. He didn't really care about the details, but Vanitas knew that if this was the case, Terra was making sure the boy wasn't bringing trouble home with him. For a man, your male guardian was an important role model. Or something like that.

Vanitas was going with the second option.

"I heard you, mom." The raven-haired junior smirked, raising a hand to his head in a lazy salute toward his superior. Terra paused at his reply, not too fond of the effort, but sort of expecting it at the same time. Eventually, the older student nodded in satisfaction, glancing back at the path he came from as his companions entered the scene. Vanitas took this chance to continue on down his path, not wanting to wear out his farewells with the close-knitted group.

He tried his best to tone out the football junkie's "See you" as he constructed a plan as to where he could possibly hang out at for the next thirty minutes. The train wouldn't come back until that time and he contemplated whether to wait at the benches near the tracks or to hide in a music store and blast some unintelligible nonsense. Although he only had at least two options to choose from, Vanitas couldn't make up his mind. By now, he didn't care about his negative emotions, his stupid paper, or the group he had just left from. He left them all behind when he achieved solitude from the teenagers. If anything, he was more worried about what to do when boredom would creep by, but even then, he wasn't actually too concerned about it. If anything, he felt an urge to turn around. It felt like something was following him, even though it couldn't be possibly true. Something was tempting him to turn and seek out the source that was just itching to be looked at again. Again? As he slowed his pace to another sharp corner of the sidewalk, the delinquent realized that his mind was focused elsewhere.

The boy couldn't forget the dangling orange keychain strapped to Terra's bag.

"Ah! Watch out!"

Vanitas whipped his gaze to his left, searching for the owner of a panicked voice. Unfortunately, the junior turned his head too fast, which resulted in a sharp pain in his neck. He had pulled a muscle somewhere. But the pain didn't seem as bad as the new predicament he saw ahead of him.

Some dimwit of a girl was on her bicycle, going a little too fast.

Okay, she was going way too fast.

"Please move out of the way!" The girl shrieked, more terrified for the boy's wellbeing than her own, apparently. Vanitas-had he not been panicked-would have seriously rolled his eyes at this. However, now was not the time and place for this.

Instinctively, Vanitas did move out of the cycler's way. As he did so, Vanitas could have sworn that as she passed by him, the girl's face had turned from worry to shock. Did he really just abandon her to her doom? The rebel had to hold in his breath to keep from laughing at her. However, before he knew it, Vanitas was running down the slope and high on her tail.

"Break, you damn idiot!"

The girl briefly glanced toward her back, realizing that she was being followed. She quickly averted her attention from the boy to the road ahead of her, making sure she wasn't going to drive into a tree or wall or even a person. She screamed with all her might, "I can't! It broke!"

Knowing he couldn't possibly outrun a bike, Vanitas was running out of time. He knew it wouldn't be long until he'd lose her and he already took note of the distance that was growing between them. He just hoped to some invisible being out there that she wasn't going to ride all the way to the train tracks. "Shift to the side! Lean in using your body! The weeds over there! " He wasn't making sense, anymore.

Thankfully, the dimwit did understand what he was instructing her to do. After clearing her mind of the pain she was probably going to feel, the girl with black hair clenched her grip onto the handle bars. She eyed the incoming patch of overgrown weeds and, with a sharp right turn of the front wheel and her desperate attempt to lean back toward the ground as much as she could, the bicycler dropped into the greenery. She screwed her eyes shut as her face and the entire right side of her body dragged across the ground. Sometime during her impact, she had released the blue contraption and let it drag ahead of her. She waited a few moments after completely stopping, before she decided to open her eyes.

"What the hell was that?!" The boy roared angrily at the body on the ground. Vanitas could feel his face grow hot from the adrenaline he used to catch up with her. Although he wanted to yell at her more for making him run, he was drained and panting in between words. Chasing a speeding bicycle down a hill is not a good idea.

The intermediate troublemaker waited for the body to get up. From his view, the feminine structure lying in the grass had her back to him. After a moment of silence, Vanitas seriously wondered if she had passed out from the ordeal since she wasn't moving an inch. When he was about to feel silly for yelling at an unconscious body, the said body shot up into a sitting position within a second, scaring the delinquent. Is she human?

The stranger slowly turned her upper body, looking back at the boy with an apologetic look. "I'm so sorry." Then, she smiled a bit, relieved. "Thank you very much for helping me."

Vanitas rolled his eyes, finally.

"I probably would have kept going until I hit someone." The female chuckled, embarrassingly. She rose to her feet and tried to dust off the green stains on her pale arm and legs. Vanitas took note of some brown spots where the cuts probably formed. "Or I could have dived into the train tracks."

"I thought that, too, actually." The golden-eyed male admitted to the second comment.

"What?!" The stranger gasped, slightly wounded by the reply. "Did you think that far ahead?!"

Vanitas couldn't help but glare. The girl was easy to offend. "It didn't happen." He watched the girl retrieve her bike and guide it toward him, which was a bad sign. The raven-haired boy didn't feel comfortable conversing with a complete stranger or a girl, at that. He only stayed behind to make sure the girl was okay and away from potential death.

"So, what's your-"

"I have to go." Vanitas cut in, pretending to be oblivious to her incoming question. He didn't wait for a farewell and walked around the girl, going down the steep sidewalk since he really wasn't going to try climbing all the back up.

"Let me pay you back!"

Oh. Well, return gifts are always nice.

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**A/N: I just love hearing return gifts/favors...whenever I do get them haha! There was actually a part I was going to stop at, but then I just needed to write the rest of it or I'd be restless. xD. I'll probably regret it later, but this is a "in the moment" series-I'll be glad I did it (hopefully). Any ideas as to who the new character is? There is no intentional pairing here, either, by the way. Unless I state it, there won't be any (I'm not a romantic, at all..don't really care to). **

**GASP! Thank you for the two reviews, by the way! I was deeply moved when I finally came back and saw them. You two are my first ever reviewers and I just want to say I love you :-D. I love you like marshmallows and coco. What? Anyway, I'll just reply here and PM any future ones (if any).**

**To Nf2752: Thank you so much! :-D I also want to thank you for taking the time to be my first reviewer, ever! I'm glad you like my idea. Aw, I'm glad everything got-a little-better as you progress through each school! Just think, you did it! :-D Haha! But I must ask, did you end up knowing some people in high school? Well, I hope you have a wonderful future! XD**

**To Jennifer7073: Thank you for your wonderful compliment! :-D And thank you for taking the time to read my first published story, as well! I'm glad you enjoy my take...I hope I don't disappoint haha (if I do, please do tell if you are still interested). I will try!  
**

**And a HUGE thank you to the followers who wanted to see this story a little longer! You're flattering me haha. Until next time, then.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: First of all, sorry for not replying to your reviews just yet! I'm multitasking with homework at the moment and I'll get back to it as soon as I finish it. So like...an hour or two from now. Haha! Thank you to the new followers for giving these drabbles a chance. I also appreciate the favorites...I'm not really sure what it is you guys like exactly, but I'll do my best to keep it up! Please enjoy this chapter (:. **

**Disclaimer (Sorry, I forgot to add this!): Kingdom Hearts and it's characters do not belong to me. Just the plots.**

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**Chapter 4**

The night seemed to be dragging on for Terra, who was struggling to stay awake in his slightly uncomfortable rolling chair. At the moment, he was in the middle of a four way video chat on his desktop computer. He sat frozen stiff with his arms crossed over his chest and a stern expression plastered on his lightly tanned face. He was half listening to his three fellow second years chatter nonstop, trying not to seem bored of their random conversation. However, in all honesty, Terra was bored out of his mind. He didn't care about gossip amongst his classmates and despised talking about them behind their backs even more. He strongly believed in the saying 'If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all'. Unfortunately for the brunette, the group of people who dragged Terra into their online session was doing the exact opposite of him. He couldn't stop them once they got started and so he zipped his mouth shut and pretended to care about their gruesome comments. Silently, the football player took note of the names that he heard, tempted to approach them one day and engage in a friendly conversation with these poor students as an internal apology for letting his companions speak so rudely of them. Well, if he could strike up a conversation at all.

Terra swiftly glanced at his computer's digital clock, which read 12:15 a.m. He needed to get to bed.

"Hey, Axel. You still haven't answered my question."

"Sorry, could you repeat that?" A lanky, red-head asked, unenthusiastically. He cupped his chin onto his hand through the webcam, obviously not interested in where their conversation was suddenly going, which got a sympathetic smile from Terra. "I seem to have not gotten it memorized."

Axel was a reliable person to Terra. Sure, the thin man was a bit immature and attracted to odd things, but the brunette liked Axel's sense of humor and charm. Something Terra felt he lacked. They both met on their first day of Twilight High, when they had disbanded from the opening ceremony assembly. Everyone was so focused on following their friends and classmates back to the classrooms that Terra was frozen stiff in the middle of the confusing traffic. The very uncomfortable freshman couldn't even mutter an apology whenever he stepped on someone's foot or collided with a shoulder. To make matters worse, not too far from where he stood, Terra could hear the beginnings of a loud argument unraveling and he could guess that from what he could make out, one of the two people involved didn't appreciate the other walking into him. Thankfully, the towering brunette was able to jump into the fight and scare off the instigator before anyone got hurt. There, he met the vibrant red streaks and deep emerald eyes who thanked him, kindly. "Whoa, you're really huge." The male who introduced himself as Axel had to admit as he let out a whistle. He grinned and slapped his new bashful friend playfully on the shoulder as he said, "You're definitely football material, big guy."

Terra still couldn't believe that he became invested in their school's football team because of a joke.

"Why do you hang out with that blond kid from Destiny Middle?" A blonde and blue eyed female hissed, not fond of being ignored. The expression quickly changed as she flicked her gaze from Axel to Terra, suddenly, a smirk tugging at her pale lips. "He actually looks a lot like Terra's little brother." A pause. "…do you even call each other brothers?"

"Yeah. Do you?" Axel echoed, bouncing with anticipation now that he wasn't in the hot seat. Terra eyed his betraying friend, taking note to remember this when the red-head needed his help.

"We live under the same roof, don't we?" The football player sighed. He didn't mind answering questions about his relations with Aqua and Ventus, since it would seem weird to outsiders that three teenagers who didn't look anything alike lived together. He didn't mind, but the word 'brother' and 'sister' didn't seem to be the right words for them. He preferred friends, best of friends, but he wouldn't deny that the younger members of the household were like family to him, either. Terra guided Ventus like an older brother would to his younger, and he watched over Aqua protectively like she was his sister. He couldn't deny the blonde's words when he thought of it that way. He just couldn't really say it. "Stop being nosy, Larxene. Curiosity killed the cat, you know." He decided to add.

"Oh! Terra told you!" Axel barked. He crouched down to the bottom left of his screen as he laughed uncontrollably. Larxene shot death glares at the red-head, probably resisting the urge to throw her laptop at her green wall.

Terra rolled his eyes, muttering an apology for having said too much, though it was more out of habit than it was meaningful. Despite having a video chat with her, the brunette really didn't know Larxene that well. During a break at school, one day, Axel caught Terra in the hall and introduced the female to him from out of nowhere. Out of politeness, Terra tried to be nice to her whenever she was around, but the football player knew from the first day they met that that was as far as their relationship would go. For one, she was attracted to-and sometimes the instigator of-school gossip and drama, things that Terra tried his best to stay away from. Then, besides Aqua, he was also not very good at striking conversations with girls. So, the lack of things to talk about limited their chances of getting to know each other further, which was fine since Terra wasn't all that eager to, anyway. As long as she wasn't causing trouble, Terra was fine with having Larxene around.

Once the laughter had ceased and he tried to catch his breath, Axel sat up straight while he wiped tears from his eyes. "That was incredible. Am I right, Demyx? …Demyx?"

Everyone simultaneously shifted their gaze toward the screen of their fourth member. Terra couldn't spot the aspiring musician anywhere and squinted through the pixelated mess of a room to see any signs of him. Just when he was going to assume that Demyx may have slipped away to the restroom or some other personal matter, Terra identified thin, brown spikes poking up from the bottom of the screen which kind of resembled grass. The teenager couldn't help but stifle an amused chuckle as he realized that their companion fell asleep on his desk.

"Is he really sleeping? It's only past midnight!" Larxene huffed, glowering at-what Terra had to assume was-the musician's screen. Demyx was also a friend of Axel's who was introduced to Terra later on in their freshman year. Unlike Larxene, though, Terra liked having Demyx around when the opportunity presented itself. He was pretty wimpy for a guy, but also very down to earth.

"Some people just have to obey their internal clocks, girlie." Axel stretched, relieving his stiff muscles for a second. Terra noticed that once Axel resumed focusing on the screen, the red-head's face seemed to light up in his direction. Raising an eyebrow, the brunette was about to ask what was wrong, until he studied the green eyes and found that he wasn't the object of surprise. Even Larxene noticed something new and flashed a bored look past Terra's shoulder. Did they see something in Terra's deep brown themed room?

"Looks like someone decided to break curfew and join in on the slumber party."

Confused, cobalt eyes strained away from the computer monitor to examine his dull-lit room. He had turned off the ceiling light and turned on the desk lamp so as to not bother the other members of the house with the blaring brightness. It took a while for his eyes to adjust to the darkness, but once it did, Terra immediately spotted the object that caught the teenagers' gaze.

Standing slightly behind the doorway, Ventus could be seen poking his head in and watching the brunette quietly. The older male quickly spotted a pillow and blanket in the boy's arms as he stared thoughtfully. He knew where this was going.

"Hey, Ven. Come on in." Terra whispered, flashing a quick smile as he flicked his wrist for the junior to enter. He wondered how long he had been there, but disregarded the question since he didn't have anything to hide, really. If anything, he should have been more worried about his classmates' vulgar vocabulary, but thought better of it since he trusted Ventus not to pay attention to such things. He quickly turned back to his friends. "I'm going to get off now. See you tomorrow."

"You mean 'later today'." Axel corrected, waving his hand off to the side for Ventus to see. The football player didn't have to turn around to know that the dirty blond haired boy would wave back, eagerly.

"Hey, you still have the blow horn I gave you for that football game last year?" Larxene intervened, already forgetting the existence of the player and his 'brother'.

As if reading her mind, Axel brought up the said blow horn that Terra recognized in his last game as a freshman into view. He held a devilish smirk as his lying words said, "How immature do you think I am?" He quickly winked towards Terra and Ventus, signaling them farewell for the time being.

"Wake that loser up on the count of three."

"One…"

"Two…"

"Thr-"

With a single click of the mouse, Terra closed the window and ended the four way conversation.

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"I didn't interrupt anything, did I?" Ventus asked, lying on the carpeted floor on his stomach. He hugged his pillow and looked up at the older male, watching him fiddle with the alarm clock on his mattress.

"You didn't, Ven." Terra chuckled. He must have been reassuring the boy at least ten times now. "You sure you don't want to sleep in your room? I can sleep on your floor."

"I'm fine."

The brunette eyed his sheets and patted the bed with his hand. "Want to sleep on my bed?"

"No."

Terra felt his shoulders stiffen as he stifled a laugh at the unusually quiet form. Shortly after shutting down his computer, Terra had learned that Ventus couldn't sleep. The younger male tried and tried to push his mind into slumber, but had no success. After two hours passed, Ventus reluctantly went to the restroom across from his bedroom and heard whispers. It was then that he peeked into the chocolate colored room and noticed Terra was still up and occupied on the computer. The hopeful junior decided then to grab his pillow and blanket and wait until Terra finished his business on the computer to ask if he could sleep over. Thinking back on it now, Terra felt guilty for making Ventus wait for a whole hour.

"At sleepovers, the guests have to sleep on the floor." Ventus explained, thoughtfully. The brunette wondered if he could see through him despite how dark the room was.

'Technically, this isn't a sleepover since we both live here', Terra thought, not able to bring himself to voice them. He truly thought Ventus' idea was admirable in some sense, and it had a nice ring to it. To sleep in another person's room and call it a sleepover made the experience much more thrilling and worth the effort when he thought about it. He couldn't even remember when either of them had been to a real sleepover last.

"Hey, Terra?"

"Yeah?" The older male laid himself on the single sized mattress with his back side facing the ceiling. He couldn't help but let out a groan as his back was straightening out from the hours of slouching in his seat.

"Do you think of us as brothers?" The blue eyes beamed at the bed. He quickly mumbled an apology for overhearing the four way conversation, though, that didn't bother Terra.

It took a moment for Terra to fully absorb the question. When it did, the teenager had to wonder if his and Larxene's conversation had made Ventus feel worried. He didn't exactly answer Larxene's question aloud, after all. The brunette arched his back toward the air and used his arms to hold his upper body up and into place. He looked down at the shadowed figure of his best friend and flashed a warm smile.

"What do you think, Ven?"

"I think it's kind of complicated. You and Aqua are my best friends, but we do live with each other like siblings would." He paused for a moment. "I mean…I think best friends suit us better than anything. But I also think of us as family. I guess either way is fine, but I might just be more used to saying 'best friends'."

"You know, I thought the same thing when Larxene asked." The football player chuckled, imagining the surprised look on the smaller form.

"What's all this whispering about?"

A bit surprised, Terra and Ventus turned their attention toward the open doorway where a dark figure stood. There, the figure had her arms crossed over her chest and wore a tired expression which meant that she just woke up. Terra let out a huge sigh of relief as he recognized the new guest.

"Aqua!" Ventus loudly whispered. "Want to join our sleepover?"

"Sleepover?" The woman echoed, eyeing the older form on the bed.

"Ven couldn't sleep and thought a sleepover would help." Terra explained, shrugging his shoulders as if it were no big deal, which it wasn't.

"A sleepover, huh." Aqua muttered, more to herself than the two boys she was standing in front of. Terra wondered if the only female here was thinking of the same thing as he did in that this wasn't actually a sleepover, but couldn't bring herself to say it as he couldn't. "Okay, I'll be right back, then." She quickly flashed a smile as she disappeared into the hallway.

"Cool! Aqua's joining!"

'So much for a good night's sleep', Terra chuckled to himself. He returned into a lying position so he could relieve the tension of his arms. He could pass out right now if he wanted to, but with all the excitement going on, he couldn't miss such a rare opportunity, really.

"So, are there any girls at school that you like, Ven?"

"What? No!" The youngest member of the household yelled. Terra had to hold his breath so as to not let a fitful of laughter escape at his innocent friend. He quickly held a finger to his lips and winked at the boy sitting next to the bed. "It's okay. I won't tell Aqua. It'll be our secret."

"I don't have any though!" Ventus whined, his voice rising in an attempt to get pity from the teasing football player.

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry, Ven."

As if on cue, Aqua returned into the room. Under one arm, she held a pillow that most likely was from her own room. Under the other arm, the female held two puffy, almost worm-like objects that looked deflated in her hold. Terra was about to ask what they were until the girl moved Ventus out of the way to lay the objects on the floor side by side and next to the bed. They were sleeping bags. "Where'd you find sleeping bags?" He decided to ask, surprised at how serious the third member of the house was about Ventus' sleepover idea.

"They were under my bed, actually." Aqua answered, more awake now than she was the first time she entered the room. "Okay, Ven. Pick whichever one you want to sleep in."

"Wow." Was all Ventus could say as he slowly made for the sleeping bag next to the bed. This way, the boy was going to sleep between Terra and Aqua. "Why do we have these? I don't remember ever using them."

"Well, it was a long time ago." Aqua giggled, guiding Ventus into the bag and zipping him up so he looked more like a worm with his face poking out. "Eraqus bought these for us when we moved in. Even though you moved in a year after me, he insisted on getting you your own sleeping bag before you got your bed. Just like me."

"What? I wish I could remember this."

"It's okay. You were kind of out of it for the first few weeks."

"You mean I was brain dead?"

"No!" The girl laughed as she zipped herself into her own bag. As she tried to gasp for air, the zipper kept getting snagged to the material. "You just had a hard time adjusting to everything."

"Oh. What else happened?"

Terra watched quietly as Aqua explained story after story about their past with an attentive Ventus listening and imagining every detail. He helped the blue-haired girl out with a few parts that seemed blurry to her, but ultimately listened to their conversation as he himself went through memory lane. Yes, he remembered when Aqua had been introduced into his life and how it took a very long time for either of them to open up to each other. He also remembered when Ventus had moved in, as well, and how excited he felt to have a boy, besides himself, grow up beside him like a brother.

Then, Eraqus had to move away for business that required him to leave for months on end when Terra made it to junior high. It was during those lonely days that made the brunette realize that he was glad, and practically thankful, to have Aqua and Ventus in his life. Yes, he remembered all the good and the bad days that came after their lives had been intertwined, but it was all worth the struggle in the end. Especially the ones he had wished could last forever. Eventually, Ventus was able to recall later events in their past and they both went on and on about their own takes on shared experiences. All the while, Terra smiled down at his worm-shaped friends until their voices became distant and almost faint. He let himself lose to slumber with the reminder that they would be right there next to him when he would wake up later that morning.

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**A/N: Any themes or ideas you want to throw out there for me to possibly write about? I can't promise I'll use any of them, but it'd be nice to have some inspiration. It's not definite, but I'm aiming to write a chapter for the upcoming holiday. If not, then I'll just resume to trying to think of personal experiences as my themes like I have been so far (which isn't much since I'm an indoor cat). Either way, thank you for sticking this far into my drabbles. I'm loving the characters more and more and I hope you are, too. If you ever laughed, smiled, connected to the characters, or just felt anything within a positive light from reading this story...well, I'm deeply grateful. Until next time!**


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